Hundreds gather in peace, beg community 'Stop the violence'

Car horns blared and headlights flashed as more than 400 people — many with signs — gathered at Market Avenue N and 12th Street on Friday night to beg the community to stop violence, in the wake of the murder of McKinley High School sophomore Anthony L. Moore.

It appeared suddenly — a lightning-like peace demonstration the likes of which the city hasn’t seen lately.

Car horns blared and headlights flashed as more than 400 people — many with signs — gathered at Market Avenue N and 12th Street on Friday night to beg the community to stop violence, in the wake of the murder of McKinley High School sophomore Anthony L. Moore.

The intersection was quiet at 7 p.m. By 8 p.m., it was alive with demonstrators, the crowd estimated at 500 to 600 at its peak.

Moore, 17, of the 1500 block of Gateway Boulevard SE, was driven to the BP gas station at the intersection Sunday evening after he was shot in the head in the 800 block of Shorb Avenue NW, according to Canton police. He died the next morning.

“Not only does it stem from the recent homicide, but from the shootings and killings in the streets,” said Rob Milan of Our Movement, an anti violence citizens organization, who organized the demonstration along with Samuel Muhammad, president of the organization called PEEPS (Pursuing Enlightenment and Educating People with Solutions).

“STOP THE VIOLENCE” signs proclaimed on all four corners of the intersection.

Moore’s grandfather, Craig Massey a former Ward 4 Canton city councilman, now of Phoenix, was in town for his grandson’s Friday funeral. “I’m really sad. My grandson would call me every other weekend in Phoenix,” he said. Moore was the son of Kimberly McClollum, one of Massey’s four daughters.

“I’m not going to let this just die,” Massey said. Police standing guard at the funeral told him “there are a lot of people working on this.”

A parole officer in Phoenix, Massey said he has a meeting Monday with Mayor William J. Healy II, Police Chief Bruce Lawver and detectives.

“I need to know what they know, as much as they can tell me,” Massey said, acknowledging that police have to be circumspect in giving out investigative details.

“It don’t want this to be just swept under the rug.”

Asked about rumors that his grandson was a gang member, Massey told a Repository reporter, “You, me and my wife could be a gang. What does that mean?” He said he didn’t believe his grandson was a gang member.

One man in the crowd said, “The black community came together,” to create the demonstration. It’s obvious we care.”

Kimwinnownnoa Prowell lives steps away from the intersection, and worries about her son, an academic scholar architecture major at Bowling Green State University. “I’m afraid for my son to come home from college because of all the stuff going on,” she said.

“Everyone on this corner is not bad. I raised my son to be good,” Prowell said.

Page 2 of 2 -
“If you really want to do something about it (violence), don’t retaliate,” she said. “Stand your ground and be part of the solution.”

Milan said the massive demonstration, which was not publicized through traditional media, was organized through social media, fliers, mass text messages and other organizations.